More
Jamaican Disco, Boogie & Modern Soul for you. If you enjoyed the
first two compilations here
and here
- ''The Reggae Disco Connection Part 3'' will take you even deeper
into the world of Jamaican Disco, Boogie & Modern Soul. This time
I am trying to shed a light on 16 rare or overlooked songs out of
Jamaica or from the Jamaican diaspora (UK, US, Canada) - again with a
focus on Disco, Boogie, Modern Soul + a touch of Jamaican Funk &
Soul. Most songs have either being recorded on the island, pressed on
Jamaican labels and/or feature JA musicians. But compared to the
first two compilations which still had a strong Reggae Feeling to
most of the songs - this compilations is more or less straight Disco
& Funk - often the accent of a singer being the only thing
distinctive Jamaican...

I
am starting this compilation with Africa
by Cedric Brooks. Originally released on the 1979 album Sabebe
by the Light Of Saba. ''Africa'' has some majestic horns arrangement,
a sweet groovin' flute + a thumping funky bass line on top of a heavy
steppers rhythm. But the arrangement of the song make it more akin to
the disco sound than what is generally known as ''Steppers'' in
Reggae. I would say, in Reggae music ''Rockers'' (yet another style
of Reggae) heralded the militant hard (and fast) drum shots, and
''Steppers'' added the "four to the floor" bass drum beat.
Steppers can be slow, it's the beat more than the speed of it. I'm
sure some of you readers might come up with a better description
though. I usually rather feel the music - and as I don't play an
instrument myself or have any theoretical background in music - it's
rather difficult for me to put it into technical characteristics.
Back to Cedric Brooks. "Cedric 'Im'
Brooks’ is arguably the most innovative saxophone players in all of
reggae music. His stunning fusion of jazz, Afro-beat, funk and Latin
with reggae sets him apart as a true pioneer, radically altering the
limits and expectations of what reggae music could sound like. (...)
In the late 60ies Brooks spent a brief period in Philadelphia,
absorbing the music of some of his greatest influences, including
Sonny Rollins, Pharoah Sanders, and Sun Ra. He was on the point of
joining Sun Ra when the birth of his second daughter necessitated his
return to Jamaica. Despite reggae being in full swing on the island,
Cedric took up Sun Ra's challenge by moving beyond reggae's
rocksteady beat by experimenting with free jazz and poetry, African
robes and dancers. And so he formed his group The Light of Saba,
taking leads from Hugh Masekela and Fela Kuti creating a
multi-cultural 'world music' way ahead of its time. His original
albums sell for a lot of money - but if you have the chance get a
copy of the 2003 released album The
Magical Light of Saba, which collects 18 Of Cedric Brooks' most
exhilarating tracks blending African and US, Cuban and other West
Indian influences - calypso and funk, rhumba, jazz bebop, nyabinghi
and even '70s disco - on top of a foundation of sunny, warm reggae
music. For further reading check out this
great article on Cedric Brooks which originally
appeared in the Wax
Poetics Issue 29 in 2008.
Unfortunately, while writing this blog post, I got to know that
Cedric 'Im' Brooks passed away on
May
3rd 2013in
New York. May he rest in peace. Track #2
is Loosen
Up by Chalice. A dubby reggae disco song with a slow rolling bass
line and some bubbling synths. Taken from their 1981 album Blasted.
On track #4 we got Bionic
Encounter by Joe Gibbs & The Professionals. ''Taken from the
classic 1979 Dub album Majestic
Dub, ''Bionic Encounter'' is in fact an off the wall yet
admirable interpretation of the Salsoul Orchestra’s 1977 smash
Runaway
and is not a cover of Getaway,
as many people tend to think (I listened to both on loop for about an
hour and I conclusively say that it is ''Runaway''). Not a dub or
special ''reggae disco'' version, the track is a soft and stripped
back disco song that is strongly reminiscent of the works of producer
Patrick
Adams (the wigged-out, stoned keyboards, heavy breathing - that
sort of thing)" (via Days
Are Numbers). Track #8 is the Modern Soul anthem Do
This World A Favour by Beres Hammond (and produced by Joe
Gibbs). Beres Hammond has a fantastic voice, and this track is one
of his most soulful. With it's strong songwriting ''Do This World A
Favour'' is an impassioned plea to live right. Taken from his 1979
album Just
A Man. Check out the uptempo song Music
Is A Positive Vibration from the same album, which I shared on the Reggae
Disco Connection Part 1 in 2012. It has a four-on-the-floor beat,
funky bass, horns, and strings... Instant favourite! Next we have
track #9 the GLP Band's Last
Funk - which some of you might know from Originals
Volume Three on Claremont
56. There is hardly any info available on the GLP Band. I assume they are the studio band/backing band of
Bevin Fagan, who was most well known as the lead singer and producer
of one of the UK's biggest reggae acts, Matumbi.
Yet in his time he was involved with and influenced by all sorts of
music that was going on in South London during the seventies and
early eighties, even being part of a prog rock band named
'Stonehenge' at one point in his youth. In the late 70ies he formed
''Guardian Angel'' - which was a roots reggae project with his wife
(or maybe sister) Sylvia Fagan on vocals. They put out a few lovers
rock type singles, among which the ''Last Funk'' stands out as the
most leftfield and hard hitting of all. Serious Disco Funk. Track
#10, the Guardian Angel's Last
Funk is the vocal version of the previous song. It can be found
on Woman
At The Well, the only longplayer released by Guardian Angel in
1980. I am ending this compilation with a beautiful cover
of ''Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now'' by Demos Cates. An 1980 Island Jazzy
Disco rendition of Mcfadden & Whiteheads's all-time classic Ain't
No Stopping Us Now...